


And Then He Could Breathe

by leftofrevolution



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, F/M, Ghazan/P'Li/Zaheer/Ming-Hua, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 04:12:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3836608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leftofrevolution/pseuds/leftofrevolution
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Harmonic Convergence returns airbenders to the world, Ghazan realizes for the first time what he's been missing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Then He Could Breathe

It was common knowledge that there were four parts to a soul; no one person could be everything, except the Avatar (who wasn’t really a person anyway, and so the rules couldn’t be expected to apply). To believe two people could make up a whole was nearly as ridiculous. The world had four nations, four types of benders for a reason.

But everything changed when Fire Lord Sozin’s airsoul refused him, deciding instead to seek a life of solitude in the mountains. How could someone believe in the joining of souls when one they were destined for decided they would rather be alone forever? And there had been no watersoul discovered to console him, and his earthsoul had died in their youth. And so Fire Lord Sozin was alone, and his bitterness consumed him. And because he was Fire Lord, his bitterness could consume the world along with him. And so it did.

And there hadn’t been an airsoul to be found for anyone after that. Not until Avatar Aang returned, and even he couldn’t bring the Air Nomads back. Not all by himself. And so even after the Hundred Years War ended, and soulmates began crossing borders and finding each other again, there wasn’t a completed soul to be found in all the world. Even airbending master Tenzin had never managed to track down his firesoul, no matter how far he traveled and how long he searched. And so the world was better, so much more united than it had been, but still there had not been a completed soul in over 170 years. And it was thought that until Tenzin’s children grew, there might never be again.

And then in the year 171 AG, Avatar Korra defeated the spirit of chaos, absorbing him into herself and throwing open the portals to the Spirit World, and airsouls were again released into the world.

–*–

Ghazan hated the White Lotus for many reasons, but only one was personal. He numbered among a lucky few, having found his watersoul and his firesoul while he was still little more than a kid, and the White Lotus had known exactly what they were doing when they scattered their prisons so far and wide. To have gone so long without touching Ming-Hua or P’Li was… well. He hadn’t known how he had functioned before he met them. He wasn’t entirely sure how he was functioning now, but he still found it within himself to grin when he caught a glimpse of Zaheer through the bars of his prison. He had no idea where Zaheer had picked up _airbending_ , of all things, but after his friend managed to toss a couple of rocks into his cell, he was too busy beating the shit out of the White Lotus bastards who had kept him locked up–locked away from his water, from his fire, and for that they could die in agony for all he cared–to question that particular bit of good luck.

He hadn’t yet straightened out of what he thought had been a particularly graceful flip when he found himself crouched at Zaheer’s feet.

“It’s nice to see you again, Ghazan.” Even without looking up, Ghazan could hear the smile in Zaheer’s voice. Many members of the Red Lotus had often commented on Zaheer’s stoicism, but Ghazan had always found his friend easy to read, nearly as much so as Ming-Hua and P’Li, so it felt natural to smile back as he stood and stuck his hand out for Zaheer to clasp.

“Thanks for busting me out. Where-” And then Zaheer touched him, grabbing him by the wrist in an old, familiar greeting, and suddenly Ghazan couldn’t find words anymore. Or think on why he needed them.

He had touched Zaheer before. But not like this.

It had been so long since he had felt another part of his soul. The adaptability, the depths of his water. The willfulness, the inner strength of his fire. With only his own earth to sustain him, he had stagnated. Calcified. He had remembered, but as a longing. Ming-Hua and P’Li had been lost to him. He had been just a remnant of a greater whole, a jagged shard, worthless on its own.

But for all his memories of depth, of will, this was something else. Something new. Until this moment, for all that he had lived his first twenty-two years outside of any prison… this was the first time he had felt like this.

He had never known what it was like until now, to feel so completely and totally free.

**Author's Note:**

> Someone asked for a soulmate A/U involving Ghazan. Trust me, I know exactly how little sense the dynamics of this world make, especially when you try to factor in non-benders (who get an even ridiculously rawer deal than they do in canon). There might be some BS about lion turtle souls needing to split into four to be accommodated into humans but still seeking to become one again and only being able to be expressed through bending, but much like the history of the Avatar until Book 2 of 'Legend of Korra,' that is some stuff that no one in 'verse actually knows anything about. And is also totally irrelevant to this story, except that one might properly infer that a completed soul gives a massive power boost to the four people involved under the right circumstances.


End file.
